In recent years, high temperature rapid processing has been in widespread use for development of photographic materials, and is even used in the processing of various light-sensitive materials with an automatic developing machine. Thus, the total processing time has been greatly reduced. To achieve such high temperature rapid processing, a developer with which high sensitivity can be realized in a short time is required, and a light-sensitive material which is excellent in developing properties, which produces no residual color even in such a short processing time, and which is capable of being dried in a short time is also required. In most automatic developing machines, the drying zone is provided in the interior of the machine. If, therefore, the light-sensitive material has poor drying properties, the automatic developing machine must have a high drying capacity. This requirement necessitates the automatic developing machine being increased in size. Furthermore, automatic developing machines usually generate a large quantity of heat, thereby producing a problem in that the temperature of the room where the automatic developing machine has been installed rises undesirably.
For the above reasons, the light-sensitive material to be used in the automatic developing machine is designed so as to increase the drying speed as much as possible. For this purpose, the following method is generally employed: at the coating step, a large amount of a hardener is added to the light-sensitive material to decrease the degree of swelling of the emulsion layer and the surface protective layer during the development-fixing-rinsing process, thus resulting in a reduction of the amount of water contained in the light-sensitive material before commencement of drying. In this method, as the amount of the hardener used is increased, the drying speed can be concomitantly increased. Increasing film-hardening in this manner, however, produces various disadvantages; for example, development speed is reduced, sensitivity is lowered, covering power is lowered, fixing speed of undeveloped silver halide grains is decreased, residual color is deteriorated, and the amount of hypo (i.e., sodium thiosulfate) remaining in the light-sensitive material after processing is increased.
The reduction of the amount of water contained in the light-sensitive material before commencing the drying process can be realized by decreasing the amount of hydrophilic substances such as gelatin, synthetic polymer and hydrophilic low molecular weight substances, coated in the light-sensitive material. However, since the hydrophilic low molecular weight substance is usually added for the purpose of preventing drying and fog formation of silver halide, if the substance is removed;, fog will be formed in the light-sensitive material. Also, if gelatin and synthetic high molecular weight substances which are used as the binder for silver halide grains are removed, the amount of the binder relative to the silver halide grains will be decreased, thereby leading to an increase in the coated silver content. Further, if the amount of the binder is decreased, disadvantages will arise; for example, photographic performance and granularity are reduced, and sensitization and desensitization may be caused by scratches or bending of the light-sensitive material during the handling thereof before the development processing. Even if better drying properties of the light-sensitive material are desired, it is impossible to decrease the amount of the binder because the above problems will arise. Under such circumstances, it has been keenly desired to develop a technique where sufficiently high sensitivity can be obtained using rapid and high temperature development processing, and fixing and rinsing processing steps can be employed without leaving any residual color, thus resulting in excellent image characteristics, and satisfactory drying can be achieved in a short time.
If tabular grains are used, they are orientated in a parallel arrangement relative to the support and thus the surface of the light- ensitive material becomes smooth and glossy. Such characteristics, in the case of light-sensitive materials employed in the medical field, particularly large-sized film sheets for a medical film, give rise to a problem in that the films which have been developed reflect light from ceiling lamps or from windows when a doctor examines them.
A method using gelatin-insoluble polymers together with gelatin for the purpose of inhibiting such surface gloss is disclosed in Japanese patent application (OPI) No. 20731/82 (the term "OPI" as used herein means a "published unexamined Japanese patent application"). It is also known that gloss can be inhibited by using matting agents. These methods, however, fail to sufficiently inhibit gloss of the smooth surface resulting from the use of tabular grains, and furthermore, a considerable increase in haze is caused after the processing.
The present invention is intended to satisfactorily inhibit the formation and amount of surface gloss after processing without an increase in haze.